Bibaha Panchami promotes national unity, Vice President Yadav says

Kathmandu, Dec 6: Vice President Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav has expressed his confidence that the Bibaha Panchami festival would promote social and national unity.    

In a message today on the occasion of the Bibaha Panchami festival, the Vice President has wished for happiness, peace, prosperity and good health to all Nepali sisters and brothers at home and abroad.    

The Bibaha Panchami festival is being celebrated across the country today by worshipping and paying homage to Shree Ramchandra and Sita.     

The festival bearing religious and cultural significance is observed on the fifth day of Marga Shukla Paksha according to the lunar calendar. It commemorates the wedding of Hindu God Ram and Goddess Sita that took place in the Tretayug.

The Bibaha Panchami is celebrated with gaiety and religious fervour especially in the historic city of Janakpur today, with thousands of devotees offering prayers at the famous Janaki temple since early morning.   

 
As per Hindu mythology, King Janak of Mithila, Sita's father, proposed a test of strength for the suitors of his daughter: to lift the great bow of Lord Shiva.    

Warriors, kin and chieftains came from afar, but no man could lift the bow. Ram, a prince from ancient Ayodhya, lifted the bow with ease and when he tried to string it, the bow shattered into pieces. Ram and Sita were married in Janakpur, the capital city of ancient Mithila kingdom, and their marriage is celebrated to this day.    

Each year, idols of Ram and Sita are brought out in procession and their Hindu wedding ceremony is reenacted during a weeklong religious festival.    
As per Mithila culture, various events as Matkor, Tilakostsab and Swayambar are held in addition to the marriage ceremony.  

  
"The Bibaha Panchami should be taken as an opportunity to encourage social virtues," the Vice President said.    

Vice President Yadav added that this festival would encourage one and all to embrace moral values in our familial and social lives by being encouraged from the stories of Ram and Sita.   

 
Likewise, the folk songs and dances, and the traditional processions to be performed on this occasion would help enliven our unique cultures, according to the Vice President. (RSS)